Remote access from one computing device to another may be provided, for example, by a terminal server or remote desktop virtualization. A terminal server allows a client computing device to connect to a server computing device over a network, such as a local area network (LAN) or the Internet. Often times, a terminal server allows the client computing device to access network server applications on the server computing device. The terminal server may allow the server computing device to be remotely controlled, monitored, or diagnosed by the client computing device over a telecommunications network.
Remote desktop virtualization also operates in a client/server computing environment. Application execution takes place on a remote operating system which communicates with the local client device over a network using a remote display protocol through which the user interacts with applications. Generally, the applications and the data that are used remain on the remote system with only display, keyboard, and mouse information communicated with the local client device. In some cases, multiple desktop operating system instances are hosted on a server hardware platform running a hypervisor, where the desktop operating system instances being hosted may be instances of the same operating system as the remote operating system or instances of other operating systems.